Rob Mullen, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Chief Legal Officer, Named as Haines’ Successor

CANTON, Ohio (May 29, 2024) – After 43 years of service to Stark County and the surrounding communities, Rick Haines will retire as president and CEO of Aultman Health Foundation, a position he has held since July 2021. He officially steps down from his position on July 1 but will remain with the organization to provide a transition period for his successor, Rob Mullen, currently senior vice president of strategy and chief legal officer for Aultman Health Foundation. News of the transition was announced today following a meeting of the Aultman Health Foundation Board of Directors.

“We are grateful for Rick’s leadership during an extremely challenging time for health systems in the post-COVID era,” said Aultman Health Foundation Board Chair Bryan Rice. “Rick’s outstanding leadership of both Aultman and AultCare has allowed us to excel as the region’s foremost independent health system.”

“I appreciate the confidence Aultman’s board of directors has placed in me,” said Haines. “As we emerged from COVID-19 pandemic, we have expanded our services, grown our footprint and built on the excellent service our colleagues have provided the community for more than 130 years. Aultman’s stability in this community will continue to be steadfast under Rob’s leadership and new organizational structure. This team will keep our patients, health plan enrollees and college students at the forefront of all we do.”

Before becoming president and CEO of Aultman Health Foundation, Haines served as president and CEO of AultCare, Aultman Health Foundation’s affiliated health insurance company, for more than 20 years. Haines joined the Aultman organization in 1981 and served in a succession of positions at Aultman Hospital, including personnel coordinator, director of budgeting, director of patient accounts and associate vice president of finance. He was named associate vice president of managed care for AultCare in 1985; executive vice president in 1997; and president and CEO in 2001.

Experienced Leaders Will Pilot Aultman Health Foundation

Rob Mullen will assume the role of president and CEO of Aultman Health Foundation on July 1. In that role, he will be responsible for leading the health systems’ operations and strategy. He joined Aultman in 2009 working several leadership posts in Aultman and AultCare involving strategy, population health initiatives and risk mitigation, most recently serving as senior vice president of strategy and chief legal officer of Aultman Health Foundation. Prior to joining Aultman, Mullen served as district director and legal counsel for Congressman Ralph Regula. Rob’s community involvement includes service to the Stark Development Board, Stark County Visitors Bureau Board and the Canton Regional Chamber Health Fund Board.

“I thank our board for the opportunity to build on the momentum established by Rick Haines,” said Mullen. “We remain committed to our mission to our community by remaining independent and committed to our patients, employer groups, enrollees, students and team members. Through our hospitals, trusted physician network, health plan, college and all our colleagues, we continue both our growth and our transformation to a population health management system.”

In addition to the appointment of Mullen as president and CEO of Aultman Health Foundation, key executive leaders, reporting to him, will continue Aultman’s mission to lead the community to improved health. Furthermore, all four of these leaders have been longtime and active residents of the community.

Tiffany Good-Witmer, RN, MSN, MBA, will serve in the role of chief operating officer for Aultman Health Foundation. She will be responsible for system-wide population health, quality and clinical operations, including oversight of Aultman’s three hospitals: Aultman Alliance Community Hospital, Aultman Hospital and Aultman Orrville Hospital. Good-Witmer joined Aultman in 1998 as a staff nurse and has served in a succession of leadership positions across Aultman Hospital, Aultman Alliance and AultCare. She most recently served as senior vice president of quality and care coordination for Aultman Health Foundation.

Steven Kelly, M.D., will serve as chief medical officer for Aultman Health Foundation and will provide physician leadership to more than 1,000 providers across the health system. Dr. Kelly will oversee the clinical and medical aspects of the health system, ensuring quality and safety of patient care, developing clinical policies and guidelines, developing system strategy with senior leadership and leading the continued collaboration of providers across the health system. For more than 20 years, Dr. Kelly has provided care to the Aultman communities as a board-certified general surgeon and medical director of trauma services. He joined Aultman in 2002 and most recently served as system medical director for surgical services. Dr. Kelly graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where he also completed his integrated general surgery residency and served as a military surgeon prior to joining Aultman. He will continue to care for patients as part of Aultman General Surgery in addition to his CMO role.

Mark Wright, appointed as president of AultCare in January 2024, will continue to lead the area’s top performing health plan in addition to his role of chief financial officer of Aultman Health Foundation. Wright joined Aultman in 1994 and currently has financial responsibility of $1.5 billion in revenue across the health system. At AultCare, Wright is responsible for an organization with $500 million in revenues and more than 450 employees. The company has been named one of the Best Insurance Companies by U.S. News & World Report for multiple years for its Medicare Advantage Plan, PrimeTime Health Plan. PrimeTime has also been rated five out of five stars by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the third year in a row and the fourth year overall.

About Aultman Health Foundation
The Aultman Health Foundation is a nonprofit healthcare organization serving Stark and surrounding counties. The integrated healthcare system includes Aultman Hospital, Aultman Orrville Hospital, Aultman Alliance Community Hospital, the locally managed health insurance provider AultCare, The Aultman Foundation and Aultman College. With 1,032 beds, over 1,000 providers and a team of more than 7,000 employees, Aultman is Stark County's largest provider of healthcare services. For more information, visit www.aultman.org.